FROM HIS CREATIVE WORKSHOP, DSPOT, DIEGO WORKS ALONGSIDE A MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM SHAPING THE FUTURE OF GASTRONOMY
Basque Chef Diego Guerrero has been honored with the 2025 Best Science Award by The Chef Awards platform, which held its annual Award ceremony last night in Milan, Italy.
The Best Chef is an international platform that connects culinary tradition with innovation, building a bridge between the past, present, and future of Gastronomy. Its mission is to bring together food lovers from around the World and to give visibility both to today´s leading names and to the emerging voices that will shape tomorrow.
Each year, its voter, including chefs, journalists, and gastronomy professionals, recognize culinary excellence by awarding their signature “knives” to the best chefs in the world. In addition to this raking system, The Best Chef also grants special awards that highlight values such as innovation, sustainability, creativity, and lifetime achievement, further reinforcing its role as a global benchmark in contemporary gastronomy.
The Best Science Award is one of these special honors, granted to chefs from anywhere in the World who demonstrate significant innovation and scientific application in their work. It recognizes those who push the boundaries of Gastronomy through scientific approaches, research, and innovative techniques. In 2025, the Award has been presented to Diego Guerrero, whose career embodies this spirit of culinary exploration and forward-thinking innovation.
There is no doubt that Diego is currently experiencing a moment of professional fulfilment, reflected in his project DSTAgE, located in the heart of Madrid, which holds 2 MICHELIN Stars, the MICHELIN Green Star, and 3 Repsol Suns. His career reveals a constant evolution that has led him to consolidate a deeply personal vision of contemporary haute cuisine, where luxury is not defined by ostentation, but by closeness, simplicity, and authenticity. It is a divergent vision, yet one that is highly valued by critics, peers, and the publica like.
When Diego envisioned what DSTAgE would become, he was certain that he didn´t want to repeat formular or fall into the usual clichés of haute cuisine. Since its Opening in 2014, the project was born from the conviction that there was another way of doing things, freer, more personal, and more authentic. Established rules, traditional protocols, and conventional management models did not reflect his way of understanding Gastronomy. That´s why, together with his team, he chose to forge his won path. This non-conformist and creative spirit has made DSTAgE one of the most distinctive and character-driven culinary proposals today, recognized both in Spain and internationally, as this Award clearly demonstrates.
In 2026, with the creation of DSPOT STUDIO, Diego made a firm commitment to creativity, development, and the ongoing pursuit of new and better ways of doing things. Taking creativity beyond the walls of the restaurant enabled the team to cultivate a more conscious approach to cuisine. DSPOT STUDIO is located right next to DSTAgE, allowing the team to manage and create more efficiently.
For Diego, Inspiration is understood as a shared process open to multiple perspectives. It is not just about cooking, but about questioning where ideas come from, when something can be considered original, and how to work thoughtfully in a World that demands immediacy. To achieve this, both at DSPOT STUDIO and DSTAgE, very different profiles coexist: biologists and chemists who bring a scientific perspective, alongside chefs who translate that knowledge into the language of gastronomy. Everyone works together around three main pillars: exploration as a way to learn and share, sustainability through innovative techniques and tolos, and creativity understood as the fruit of these diverse sources of Inspiration.
Through DSPOT STUDIO, his creative laboratory, Guerrero promotes, among many other projects, a zero-waste model based on research, innovation, and maximum efficiency, where every product, material, and piece of knowledge is fully utilized. This philosophy, which combines creativity and responsibility has established DSTAgE as a benchmark for conscious haute cuisine and demonstrates that Sustainability can indeed be a reality in the heart of a major capital city like Madrid.
Diego´s relationship with The Best Chef Awards dates back to the platform´s inception. Between 2021 and 2023, he was consistently ranked in the prestigious Top 100, placing him among the fifty best chefs in the World. In 2024, following the renewal of the ranking system, he received the recognition of 3 knives, the highest distinction. This achievement was also confirmed last night in the 2025 guide, making him one of only 18 chefs in Spain and 126 worldwide to attain this exclusive 3 knives Award.
Diego Guerrero is a prominent figure known for his work and unique vision of contemporary Gastronomy, a recognition that has earned him numerous Awards and was Further reinforced in 2024 when he was named International Ambassador for Gastronomic Tourism by the United Nations.
In a constantly changing World, Diego Guerrero faces the future with the conviction that his unique approach to cooking is not just a Choice, but the only viable way to respond to uncertainty with creativity and coherence. His close and committed vision has already made him a reference point for colleagues seeking advice and Inspiration. Today, beyond continuing to forge his own path, he also serves as a mentor and guide for new generations of chefs, consolidating a legacy that transcends his cuisine and positions him as one of the most influential and inspiring voices in contemporary global Gastronomy.